EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
FERTILISERS SUBSIDY ACT 1986.
FERTILISER SUBSIDY REGULATIONS
STATUTORY RULES 1987 NO. 205
ISSUED BY THE AUTHORITY OF THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SCIENCE AND SMALL BUSINESS
During the 1986 Budget Sittings Parliament passed the Fertilisers Subsidy Act 1986 (Act 131, 1986) The Act introduced the new assistance arrangements for fertilisers, replacing the Phosphate Fertilizers Subsidy Act 1963 and the Nitrogenous Fertilizers Subsidy Act 1966 and giving effect to the Government’s decision to remove the subsidies payable on imported fertilisers and reallocate those savings by increased subsidy payments on locally produced fertilisers.
Under one of the superseded Acts, the Phosphate Fertilizers Subsidy Act 1963, regulations were made to specify the permissible trace elements which could be mixed to phosphatic fertilisers. This effectively increased the classes of such fertiliser eligible for subsidy, and also acknowledged the commercial reality that trace elements have traditionally been added to commercially produced phosphatic fertiliser.
The new regulations to the Fertilisers Subsidy Act 1986 specify the same trace elements &c that were specified for the purposes of that 1963 Act.
The regulations provide as follows:
Regulation 1 provides for the regulations to be cited as the “Fertilisers Subsidy Regulations”.
Regulation 2 deems the regulations to have come into effect on 20 August 1986, the date of commencement of the new Fertilisers Subsidy Act 1986.
Regulation 3 defines certain terms used within the Regulations.
Regulation 4 specifies that the elements boron, cobalt, copper, manganese, molybdenum and zinc are trace elements in relation to which section 5 of the Act applies. The effect of this Regulation will be deem phosphatic and nitrogenous fertilisers mixed with these trace elements to be phosphatic, or nitrogenous fertilisers on which subsidy is still payable.
Regulation 5 specifies that any chemical compound consisting of any of the elements contained in regulation 4, which is chemically united with one or more other elements, is a compound of a trace element to which section 5 of the Act applies. The effect of this Regulation will again be to deem nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilisers mixed with these compounds still to be phosphatic or nitrogenous fertilisers on which subsidy is payable.
Regulation 6 provides that:
• Zinc dross that contains not less than 70% by weight of zinc (subregulation 1); or
• a substance, not being a compound of a trace element containing not less than 6% by weight of molybdenum (subregulation 2); or
• substances, other than those specified in subregulations 1 and 2, that contain not less than 40% by weight of 1 or more compounds of a trace element are specified to be a substance in relation to which section 5 of the Act applies.
• Again, the effect of this Regulation will be to deem nitrogenous and phosphatic fertilisers mixed with these substances to be phosphatic or nitrogenous fertilisers on which subsidy is payable.